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Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on April 1, 2, and 8, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Greenfield, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella writes about going on a “calling & begging trip for Kansas” among friends in the area, and how she was disappointed to receive only $3.00 for her efforts. Florella discovered that many people had already given funds for Kansas to Mr. Stephenson, who managed to collect over $300.00 by representing himself as an acquaintance of John Brown.
Date: April 1, 1861-April 8, 1861

Title: From Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon
Description: This letter was written on August 24 and 27, 1863 by Samuel R. Ayres in Moneka, Kansas, to Lyman Langdon. Ayres writes that “along our Missouri border we are subject to almost constant raids from the Bushwhackers over the line who rob our citizens burn their houses and murder prominent men.” Ayres offers a description of Quantrill’s recent raid on Lawrence, Kansas, calling it “an act of barbarity but seldom if ever equaled by the most savage tribes.” Ayres says that he and other local citizens are organizing to defend Mound City, Kansas from guerrilla attacks.
Date: August 24, 1863-August 27, 1863

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on February 20, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella says that the citizens of York “held a meeting and raised over $80.00 for Kansas.” Florella adds that there are many misconceptions about sending relief funds to Kansas: “I could have sent two or three hundred dollars to our town, if it had not been for the idea that all must go through the hands of the committee at Atchison.”
Date: February 20, 1861

Title: From Sara Robinson to Charles S. Gleed
Description: This letter is from Sara Robinson, abolitionist and wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to Charles S. Gleed, a businessman in Topeka. Robinson writes from Lawrence, Kansas on January 7, 1881 and criticizes an "error" in an article Gleed wrote: "[you] connected John Brown's name with the safety of Lawrence. He really never had anything to do with its defense in any way." Attached to the letter is an unsigned document describing Brown's role in the "Invasion of the 2800" on September 14, 1856.
Date: January 7, 1881

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This undated letter was written by Florella Brown Adair to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her recent trip to Ashtabula, Ohio to visit friends and relatives. She writes of visiting the “great oil county where all seemed to be alive pumping oil from the bowels of the earth…Their are now five hundred wells sunk & most in opperation, they are worked by steam engines & yeald from five to therty barrels of oil in its crude state.”

Title: Petition of Sundry Citizens of Pottawatomie Creek
Description: This petition, dated September 19, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 32 Kansas citizens living near the Pottawatomie, Sugar, and Middle Creeks and the Osage River. The petitioners describe several recent guerrilla attacks in their region, including the Battle of Osawatomie, and ask for Geary to take action. They complain that the attacks, launched by Missourians and “guided by a few desperate men in our midst,” have succeeded in “sacking and burning houses and in robbing and plundering and menacing the lives of our citizens.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 19, 1856

Title: From James A. Holmes to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 2, 1856, was written by James A. Holmes on behalf of the people of Osawatomie, Kansas, to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Holmes states that on August 30, 1856, a band of 410 Border Ruffians led by Martin White attacked Osawatomie, killing two men and injuring a third before plundering and burning the town. Holmes seeks permission for the citizens of Osawatomie to organize in self-defense against another attack by White.
Date: October 2, 1856

Title: From Emma Adair to Florella Brown Adair
Description: On May 10, 11, and 21, 1862, Emma Adair writes from Oberlin, Ohio, to her mother Florella Brown Adair. Emma writes that her school term ends on May 27, and that she believes there will be a place for her next term. She says that a report came by telegram “that Richmond was taken, but there was not much confidence put in it.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 10, 1862-May 21, 1862

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This undated letter was written ca. December 1862 by Florella Brown Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella expresses distress over reports regarding “the great battle of the 6 of this month.” She states that their son Charles is among the missing, and does not know if he is dead or has been taken prisoner. Florella says that her friends “seemed to sympathize & hoped it might not be so bad, or that it was not true, as many reports are exagerated.”

Title: From Martin White to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 5, 1856, was sent by Martin White in Miami County, Kansas, to Kansas Governor John Geary. White is frustrated by Geary’s lack of response to his previous requests for troops to protect local citizens against John Brown’s raids. White states that has raised a company of 80 men who wish to be mustered into the U.S. service to help with local defense.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: From Samuel Worthington to Dear Father
Description: This letter, dated October 27, 1864, was written by Samuel Worthington at Headquarters, District of South Kansas, Paola, Kansas, to his father. Worthington states that he recently returned from the front, where he took part in five cavalry charges in one day during the Battle of Mine Creek. He describes participating in a charge with the 7th Kansas Cavalry in which they took 5 pieces of artillery and captured 300 prisoners including Confederate Gen. Marmaduke. “The Rebs are whipped completely,” Worthington declares.
Date: October 27, 1864

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: On November 30, 1862, Florella Brown Adair writes from Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella discusses various household and community matters, stating that she has “a black woman coming to help me.” She says she heard a report that Gen. Blunt was going to Fort Smith with his whole command, and also heard that their son Charles was involved in battle and was “among the first to take the Rebbel Battery.”
Date: November 30, 1862

Title: From Charles Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: On September 16, 1860, Charles Adair writes from Rawsonville to his father Samuel Lyle Adair. Charles describes his recent visit to Oberlin, where he met an old classmate of his father’s and attended a concert. He says that he would like to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, but believes his father may need his assistance at home; Charles asks him to decide what is best.
Date: September 16, 1860

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on August 20, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas. Florella says that she has become something of a local celebrity as a “Kansas ‘Lion,’” and that people often stop by to visit her. She says that she met many old friends and classmates at a gathering in Oberlin. Florella reports that her son Charles has an opportunity to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, and asks Samuel what he thinks about this prospect.
Date: August 20, 1860

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on February 17, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella says she is sorry if Samuel’s feelings are hurt by her letters, but says that she intended no wrong and has tried to do right by her family and herself by staying in Ohio for the winter. She plans to go south to Xenia, Ohio with Charles in March, and adds that although Ada wants to see her father, she “does not care about going back to Kansas.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: February 17, 1861

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: On September 6, 1860, Florella Brown Adair writes from Grafton, Ohio to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella says that her friends think she should spend the winter in Ohio instead of returning to Kansas, and that “if you & Emma were out of Kansas I should be glad & we would not return there until things are better in temporal prospects.” Florella shares a rumor about a Methodist preacher in Osawatomie, Kansas, who was seen several times with “colored emegrants” on their way to Canada. “I am inclined to think he has been falsely accused by free state men in Kansas” she concludes.
Date: September 6, 1860

Title: The Osawatomie Battlefield
Description: Osawatomie Battlefield courtesy of Oswald Garrison Villard's John Brown 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After. On August 30, 1856, Abolitionist John Brown and 40 other Free-Staters unsuccessfully defended the town of Osawatomie, Kansas against 250-300 border ruffians under John W. Reid. The Free-Staters were routed, Osawatomie was burned, and one of Brown's sons was killed, but Brown escaped with his life and earned the nickname "Osawatomie Brown" for his spirited defense.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Friends at Home
Description: Edward Fitch writes a July 26, 1855 letter from aboard a steamboat on Lake Erie. He tells friends in his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts that he is en route from Boston to Osawatomie, Kansas. He describes the other members of his travelling party, a group of nineteen emigrants he is taking to Kansas for the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 26, 1855

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written January 28 and 30, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Lafayette, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella describes her trip from Grafton, Ohio to Lafayette. She writes that everyone is talking about “Kansas & the political condition of the union…Many think war will be declared before many weeks. Democrats lay all the blame on Republicans & Kansas for all the trouble, but not many are ready to fight for the south.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 28, 1861-January 30, 1861

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter, dated November 21, 1860, was written by Florella Brown Adair in Hudson, Ohio to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma in Osawatomie, Kansas. Florella responds to their recent letters, which were “so complaining and discouraging, that I feel more like staying away, than hurrying home…it seems to me that the Territory is cursed of the Lord and that it is fighting against him to try to live there and do anything but barely to exist…I cannot help feeling a perfect disgust for Kansas life, and most of Kansas people.” Florella adds that she read about the “Montgomery and Fort Scott troubles” in the newspapers.
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 21, 1860

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865

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